MGBB Custom Works *Update on Page 9*

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

Judge Hershey
A fictional character in the Judge Dredd series that appears in British comic 2000 AD. A different version of Judge Hershey appeared in the Judge Dredd film played by Diane Lane. In this rendition, the outfit and accessories are based on the movie version while the headsculpt is based on the comic.
More background about Judge Hershey: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_Hershey

Reference:
This is the comic, movie clips and movie props I based on.

CG Section:

 

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

The Figure:
The original idea of this bash was coming from a Japanese figure customizer, ___uinu-san. I happened to get a set of Medicom Judge Dredd gear loose parts back in 2006. However, I did not complete the figure until recently.
Headsculpt: OJI (painted, see below)
Body: Coolgirl 2.0
Outfit: Coolgirl Destiny
Helmet, Shoulder Armor: Medicom Judge Dredd (enhanced, see below)
Harness, Holster: Medicom Judge Dredd (enhanced, see below)
Hands: Coolgirl Destiny
Boots: Coolgirl Catwoman (enhanced, see below)
Lawgiver Handgun: customized (see below)

Headsculpt
Bought this great OJI unpainted head as loose part. I think this HS matches quite well with the comic version of Hershey especially the hair style.

Helmet Enhancement
The original helmet fits quite well with a female headsculpt. There is not much enhancement needed. I applied a coat of gloss clear to match the texture better with the one seen in the movie.

Armor Enhancement
The badge was re-sculpted from wording "Dredd" to "Hershey" using epoxy putty. Then repainted golden part with metallic paint. A pair of buttons were added to the collar.

Harness Enhancement
The original harness belt, holster and other accessories were combined into one piece of plastic. The problem was that it did not fit quite well to the waist curve. I tailor made a harness belt with leather material. Then I cut the parts from the original harness belt and sticked on to this new belt. The curvature of the armor part was adjusted to fit better to the body.

Boots Enhancement
The problem with the original boots was that the ankle parts were not movable. First, I selected a pair of boots from Takara Catwoman. All the details were stripped off. Details were cut from the original boots and transplanted to the Catwoman's boots. The enhanced pair of boots offered better pose-ability and outlook wise matched better with the movie props.

Lawgiver Handgun Customization
The original Lawgiver came with the Judge Dredd figure was poorly produced. I decided to make one from scratch. The parts I selected was from Kotobukiya Gundam weapon kit. The grip was from a modern handgun. Diagonal linings were engraved. LED and other details were added. Although it is not an exact match with the movie version, I am happy with the outcome.

 

[Nek74]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

Amazing work Ray, those CG pics are so sweet!

 

[Artoo]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

The master is da house !!!!!

Fantastic to see you over here Ray! I love this section too, especially to see a customizers creations all in 1 thread.

 

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

This was the first figure customized after I moved back from Japan to Hong Kong.

The Character

Mikazuki (三日月) is a Iga-ryu (伊賀流) Ninja working for Shogun Tokugawa (徳川家康) in the 16th century. She is specialized in assassination and intelligence retrival. Her primary weapon is Ninjato. She is also equipped with a wakisashi (side arm), shuriken (throwing star), kaginawa (grappling hook) and tokubutsu (poison). Mikazuki is calm, merciless and lethal. She strictly obeys what her master told her to do and she never fails to complete any of her missions.

Synthetic Computer Graphics

Mikazuki is watching over the city under the crescent moon light. She is wearing her skull mask. Someone is going to die. But it will not be a painful process.

Silently she jumped down from the roof to strike on one of the guards. She has stabbed her ninjato right into his heart to kill him instantly.

The second guard did not notice what's happened to his partner. The last thing he senses was the cool sharp blade on his throat.

Both guards were neutralized in a split of a second.

Mikazuki is traversing across the bamboo forest at lightning speed.

Mikazuki has a pair of furious red eyes.

Mikazuki is using Kuji Kiri (九字切り) to help her concentrate: Rin, Kyo, Toh, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!

Mikazuki is meeting her master to receive her next mission

 

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

The Figure

This figure is based on Crazy Owners' Kunoichi. In my opinion, it is the best stock female ninja figure made so far. The costume quality is good. I like the semi gloss black fabric on costume. The body has some good articulations. When it came to character design, I have to admit that I was under a lot of influence from HunterPig, a ninja figure master (https://hunterpig.blogspot.com). His work is very inspiring. The other source of influence is from "Tenchu", a video game. A lot of the postures are based on what I saw from the game.

Parts Breakdown
Head: Takara CG Luna repainted
Body: Crazy Owners Kunoichi modified
Hands: Takara CG modified
Costumes: Crazy Owners Kunoichi
Sandals: custom made
Skull Mask: Azone(?)
Ninjato: Mononofu
Wakisashi: Crazy Owners Kunoichi
Grappling Hook: custom made
Poison Pot: custom made
Sleeve Armors: custom made
Greaves: custom made

Head Repaint

The head is Takara CG Luna. Yes, it is a very rare head. I was lucky to get one as loose part. Otherwise I will never have this head as the complete figure is now selling at US$300 in the market. Having said that, the head alone is also not cheap. As usual, I removed the factory paint and redrew the eyes and lips. The eyebrows are painted in a way to give her a serious look. Chalk shading was applied to enhance the face features.

Body Modifications

The original Crazy Owners body is pretty good. I like the arm and leg articulations. But there are a few things I dislike:
1) the hands cannot hold on to weapon firmly and there are no spare ones for different postures, so I modified the wrist socket to fit CG hands. The CG hands are modified with epoxy putty as well.
2) to allow the crouching poses I need to enhance the head tilting articulation and also the thigh need to move up against the chest. I cut the neck and put in a double ball joints. Then I made a cut out at the waist to allow the thigh to move with a larger extent.
3) I just cannot stand the shape of the breasts. They really look unnatural. I resculpted them with epoxy putty.

Accessory Customizations

Kote (sleeve armor) and suneate (greaves) are made of aluminum can. Plastic stripes are fixed on to the aluminum by instant glue.
Sandal: the sole is made from some thick fabric. Strings are attached to it with instant glue.
Skull Mask: original is a shinny silvery finishing. I used a grinder to remove the surface coating before repainting with black acrylic. Then dry brush metallic silver to create a die-cast iron look.
Grappling Hook: this is actually made of fishing hooks. 2 hooks were glued together to form the shape of a kaginawa, a commonly used climbing tool for ninja.
Poison Pot: gun silencer was cut into pieces and glued together again.

 

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

Amazing work Ray, those CG pics are so sweet!

Nek, thanks!

 

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

Fantastic to see you over here Ray! I love this section too, especially to see a customizers creations all in 1 thread.

Ross, thanks! This is a good forum full of talented people. I am glad to be part of it.

 

[Artoo]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

Looks like you've been a member for almost a year, why wait so long to post your work?

 

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

Looks like you've been a member for almost a year, why wait so long to post your work?

Haha, I just forgot I was a member here until now.

 

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

Quote from Wikipedia: Taki is a ninja, who after a battle with a demon in a haunted temple felt her magical ninjatō Rekkimaru begin to weaken, and believing Soul Edge to be the cause sought the blade to destroy it. Along the way she recovers a second weapon, Mekkimaru, from an innkeeper and her daughter she had been sent to kill, and in order to protect them informs her masters that the daughter's lover Li Long had instead taken the blade, though is found out and becomes a fugitive herself. Eventually finding and defeating Soul Edge's host, Cervantes de Leon, she merges a fragment with Mekkimaru, but finds the resultant sword gives off an evil aura. Unable to destroy it, she instead decides to try and tame its evil herself, and eventually comes into direct conflict with her former master, Toki. Realizing that Soul Edge had reformed itself, she chased after the blade to destroy it for good.

Photoshop CG's

 

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

The Figure

Parts Breakdown:
Head: Takara Aska (repainted, see below)
Body: Takara CG 2.0 (modified, see below)
Hands: Triad Taki (modified to fit CG body)
Feet: Triad Taki (modified to fit CG body)
Costume: Triad Taki
Armor: Triad Taki
Ninjatos: Triad Taki

Work In Progress

This figure is based on the Triad Soul Calibur Taki released last year. The costume and the accessories are nicely made but I do not like the Otaku body at all. The hip and thighs are too weak and the articulation is poor. I decided to rework the entire body.
1) The original Triad figure with Otaku body
2) Tried a few different kinds of body and finally settled down with Takara CG2.0
3) Further customization to add stronger muscle and re-sculpted breasts

The breasts of the CG body was too round. I re-sculpted them to make them look more natural.
1) drill holes around the line for the cutting work
2) the breasts are removed
3) use epoxy putty to re-built the breasts

Other modifications/enhancements:
1) inserted small magnet at hip for fixing the ninjato Mekkimaru
2) inserted another small magnet at the back for fixing the ninjato Rekkimaru
3) magnets were glued on to the ninjato's
4) sculpted the abdomen muscle
5) sculpted the thigh muscle
6) added subtle shadings to the armors
7) the limbs were heavily trimmed down for fitting the armors
8) the feet were cut from the Otaku body including sandals and socks
9) the CG ankles were cut and integrated with the Otaku feet. brass rods were added as reinforcement

The original Triad headsculpt is too toy-looking. It took me quite some time to hunt down a head to match Taki's look. I was extremely lucky to pick up this Takara Aska head during my last trip to Tokyo. When deciding the style, I intended to give a more intensive look rather than a plain beautiful face.
1) the head I bought from Tokyo
2) the hair line was too high around the neck
3) factory paint was stripped
4) pupils were first drawn, eye alignment was checked
5) the 2 eyes and lips were drawn
6) gloss clear paint was applied to eyes and lips
7) painted the "hair" at the back of the neck so it looks a bit natural from behind
8) brown chalk was added to face as shading
9) close up view: the pupil is actually brown with thin radial black lines and a small dark dot in the middle. It is important to add grey shading to the top of the eye ball. That makes the eyes stand out.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

Wow. Judge Hershey looks super cool. Taki looks a lot better, much less stiff.

The female ninja looks slick as hell. Really nice work.

 

[Dorgmal Snow]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

Wonderful stuff and the detailed breakdowns is brilliant!!!!

 

[jimmiroquai]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

I love seeing all your work in one thread! As great as i remember them.

 

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

Wow. Judge Hershey looks super cool. Taki looks a lot better, much less stiff.

The female ninja looks slick as hell. Really nice work.

SwedishHeat, thanks! Hershey is probably the most popular figure I have ever done. It received a lot of positive feedback. Ninja is one of my most favorite topic so I enjoyed doing Taki and the female ninja very much.

Wonderful stuff and the detailed breakdowns is brilliant!!!!

One thing I enjoy a lot is to watch how other people customize so I tend to share how I do in return.

I love seeing all your work in one thread! As great as i remember them.

I like this idea very much as well. I will gradually re-post my work here.

 

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

LAU acted as a team leader in the movie. Since it is filmed before 1997, the Fire Department logo is still of the old British Colony version.

Computer Graphics

Saving the girl! (the "girl" is a Takara Cool Girl. The leg and arm joints are removed and dirt is added by photoshop)

Save the driver! (inspired by a car crash rescue scene in the movie)

LAU and his teamates (I only made 1 figure but I do have 2 helmets: the one with stripes is for the team leader)

LAU is taking a cigarette break

 

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works

The Figure

Most accessories and costumes are from a HK fireman figure boxset made by a small company called KF Toys. The quality, in today's standard, is just so-so but the accessories are surprisingly accurate. The only compliant is that the costume is made of cotton instead of some water-proof material. But it still looks pretty close to the one in the movie.

Parts Breakdown
Head: unknown source (customized/repainted)
Body: BBI G3.5
Costumes: KF Toys (slightly weathered)
Accessories: KF Toys (enhanced/repainted)
Gloves: Hot Toys (modified to fit BBI wrist peg)

Head

This is the first time for me to re-sculpt a head to change the face features. There is a head of LAU in the market. However, the eyes are over-sized and the shape of the cheek is also a bit off. After consulting FENG, the HS master from Taiwan, I have resculpted the head with epoxy putty. Although the outcome is still not 100%, it looks a lot better. At least when I show that to my friends, they can tell right away who that is.

Accessories

Although the accessories are quite accurate compared to the HK Fire Services Department standard, it is a bit different from those from the movie. To save effort, I decided to follow the modern HKFSD standard. The only thing faithful to the movie is the old British Colony version logo on the helmet. The accessories were enhanced, repainted and weathered.

Raw Photos

 

[RIDDICK]

Re: MGBB Custom Works *New Update on Page 4*

mgbb, always followed yours works on OSW and very happy that you started to postin here.
Your customs always inspire me to do what earlier I would never try.

I wish to express my gratitude and thanks

 

[mgbb]

Re: MGBB Custom Works *New Update on Page 4*

mgbb, always followed yours works on OSW and very happy that you started to postin here.
Your customs always inspire me to do what earlier I would never try.

I wish to express my gratitude and thanks

Riddick, thanks for the kind message!